The source of our adversity

http://www.intouch.org/read/magazine/daily-devotions/the-source-of-our-adversity?firstItem=ae56f8a4-e5a8-40f3-bdd9-276a5554e212

From the CANON on this blog:

Solutions

1.    God is omnipotent and therefore can solve any problem.  He may choose to use the solutions listed below, but he often provides in ways you could have never imagined.  The poor should cry out to God for help, rather than depending on Baal.

 

From today’s scripture reading:

I am the Lord;
    there is no other God.
I have equipped you for battle,
    though you don’t even know me,
so all the world from east to west
    will know there is no other God.
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
    I create the light and make the darkness.
I send good times and bad times.
    I, the Lord, am the one who does these things.

“Open up, O heavens,
    and pour out your righteousness.
Let the earth open wide
    so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together.
    I, the Lord, created them.

“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator.
    Does a clay pot argue with its maker?
Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying,
    ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’
Does the pot exclaim,
    ‘How clumsy can you be?’
How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father,
    ‘Why was I born?’
or if it said to its mother,
    ‘Why did you make me this way?’”

Isaiah 45:5-10 (NLT)

From today’s devotional:

When experiencing hardship, we usually wonder why God allows painful situations to come our way. In our minds, this just doesn’t fit with His role as our loving heavenly Father. We also struggle to reconcile our suffering with the realization that an omnipotent God could have prevented it. To understand what’s going on, we must consider the possible sources of adversity.

• A Fallen World. When sin entered the world, suffering came with it. God could have protected us from these harmful effects by making us like puppets who couldn’t choose sin, but that would mean we’d also be unable to choose to love Him, since love, by its very nature, is voluntary.

• Our Own Doing. Sometimes we get ourselves into trouble with foolish or sinful choices. If the Lord stepped in and rescued us from every negative consequence, we’d never grow into mature believers.

• Satanic Attack. The devil is our enemy. To hinder anything God wants to do in and through believers, Satan will never cease to harass us. His goal is to destroy our lives and our testimonies, thereby making us weak and useless for the Lord’s purposes.

• God’s Sovereignty. Ultimately, the Lord is in charge of all adversity that comes our way. To deny His involvement contradicts His power and sovereignty over creation.

For us to accept that God allows—or even sends—affliction, we must see adversity from His perspective. Is your focus on the pain of your experience or on God and His faithfulness? As believers, we’re assured that no adversity comes our way unless He can use it for our benefit and His good purposes.